Billy Moore's family absorbs double tragedy of his shooting, mother's death

View full sizeMaxine Bernstein/The OregonianGabriel Hardy was a close friend and neighbor of Billy Moore and held him after he was shot.

Billy Moore's grandmother, aunt and cousins gathered Monday in the waiting room of OHSU's intensive care unit to say their last goodbyes to Moore's mother.

Valerie Martinez, 44, was on life support after complications from a May 18 bone-marrow transplant.

"We had just come to terms with the fact there was no chance she was going to improve," said Martinez's sister, Raquel Martinez, who had donated her marrow.

About 7:30 p.m. Trina Simmons' cell phone rang.

"My nephew called and said, 'Did you hear about Bill?' He said, 'Bill got shot.' I said out loud, 'Bill got shot?' And all my family heard me," said Simmons, Martinez's cousin. "And my nephew said, 'He's not breathing."

The family rushed from one hospital to another, thinking 17-year-old Moore would be at Legacy Emanuel Hospital and Health Center. He wasn't there, so they headed to the scene in North Portland.

Hours later, police arrested Marsel Upton, 16, who is in the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center and will face a charge of murder with a firearm at his arraignment Wednesday afternoon. He is accused of fatally shooting Moore after a confrontation at a bus stop about 1 1/2 blocks from Moore's home.

Police Chief Mike Reese said the New Columbia community was a big help. They "showed us where key pieces of evidence were located as well as helped identify the people responsible." "Without their help," he said, "we may not have been able to make arrests as quickly as we did."

The bureau also plans to partner with gang-outreach organizations and other city and county programs to begin communication with those in areas with a history of gang violence, Ferraris said.

Moore, 17, had said his goodbyes to his mother earlier in the evening and stepped off a TriMet bus on North Trenton Street when he exchanged words with two other young men. As Moore and his cousins, ages 19 and 20, walked away, shots rang out and the boys ran toward Moore's home, witnesses and relatives said.

"Some boys said something to Billy, and in the state of mind he was in, he said something back," said Raquel Martinez, whose sons were with Moore.

His cousins told family he said something like, "Man, get out of here, you young gang kids."

Moore and his cousins started walking back to his house. "All of a sudden they heard gunshots, and they started running," Martinez said.

Moore was struck in the left side of his back but was able to make it to his home in the 8900 block of North Woolsey Avenue, yelling, "I got shot. I got shot." He ran through his house and a back sliding door to the backyard.

Neighbor Gabriel Hardy, who was outside, held out his arms to Moore, who was gasping for air.

"He was just shaking his head," Hardy said. "He couldn't talk. I was like, 'Be strong, Bill. Be strong.' I was holding his hand and praying, but he just didn't have the strength."

Hardy was like a father or big brother figure to Moore, who had moved with his mother and older sister to Portland about five years ago from Stockton, Calif. He enrolled at Rosemary Anderson High School as a sophomore in 2008 and just last month was named prom king at the school's first prom. He graduated June 10, was working at The Salvation Army and was active as a deacon at the New Freedom Assembly church. He planned to attend Portland Community College in the fall.

"Billy Moore was just a great kid," said Bob Brandts, the activities director. "He was a kid who was trying to do his life right. He graduated from high school, got a job and was trying to help support his family."

Brandts said he saw Moore last Friday and gave him his senior photograph. "He was so tickled about it because they came out so well," Brandts said.

Moore's mother's terminal illness had taken a toll on him. She had been in intensive care since May 31, suffering acute respiratory failure.

"He was a kid who had to become a man pretty quick," Brandts said. "He shouldered it all. He was always optimistic, but you could tell it was wearing on him."

Moore dealt with his mother's illness by relying on his faith, Hardy said.

"After school, he'd sit with me, and we'd talk about God till all hours of the night."

Brandts said Moore had "zero gang affiliation." "He knew it wasn't for him."

"It's like a nightmare," said Louise Rosas, Moore's grandmother, who has been in Portland the past few months helping while her daughter was hospitalized. "It just doesn't seem real."

It was surely too much loss too quickly. Moore's family left the shooting scene Monday night, returned to OHSU Hospital and took his mother off life support. She died just after midnight. She never learned of her son's death.